St. Patrick's Day (Observed) 2010

Hi gang,

Today marked our annual St. Patrick's Day (observed) festivities, and once again we ventured out to the coast (Melbourne) for whatever-the-heck their Irish Fest is officially called.

Like we told you about last year, they had a parade, bands, dancers, pipers, drummers, corned beef and cabbage, Irish and English beers on draught, and all the outdoor shenanigans one could ask for. The festivities center around Meg O'Malley's, which, while not nearly as awesome as the Doherty, has proven to be a reliable source of Irish mayhem while we're unable to venture home for the infamous Clare Irish Festival.

This year the Voigts came with us, too, which was cool 'cause otherwise it would've been just me drinking beer next to a pregnant woman and a toddler... and that would've gotten old after awhile (then again, it is St. Patrick's Day, so I might not have minded all that much...).

They had a blow-up thing that kids like bouncing on (whatever those are called), so the kid had good fun with that. She also got to play in the dirt in the lot behind the pub, which is always a big plus for her (we're good parents).

Lot of familiar faces about - lots of the same folks that were there the previous year when we went with Mike and Amber, such as Creepo the Leprechaun (at right), who, once again, was festively drunk. I'm not sure what his official role at the festivities entails, but I do know that I appreciate his devotion to that role. Saw a few of the same marshals, pipers and the like, and so while we were 1300 miles south of where we would've preferred to be, we were definitely somewhere that deserved a silver medal.

In closing, here's a crapload more pictures for you to briefly skim over before going about your cyber surfing. Slainte!

- Brian

St. Patrick's Day (Observed)

hey folks...

for the third year in a row, the houghs were unable to kick their green ya-yas out in clare for the annual irishfest at st. patrick's day. this was indeed depressing news, but this year wasn't nearly as bad as the previous two: this year, we found ourselves another irish festival (in the historic downtown area of melbourne, florida, of all places), and

gave the cannoball an appropriate 1st st. patrick's day...

...or as good as we could outside of the doherty.

We woke up good and early and drove out to Melbourne (which is along the Atlantic coast, for those of you who do not know Florida) and met up with our friends Amber, Mike and their son Braedyn. We got there just in the nick of time for the parade to start. Cannonball seemed to enjoy it for a while until it got loud.

Shortly after we set up shop in the blocked off lot behind Meg O'Malley's.

It was nearly impossible to get through the bar. There was a stage set up for a guy singing Irish ballads to the drunken crowd, so we braved the mob once and a while to hit the up bathroom. But pretty much stuck to the hot dog, corned beef dinner, and beer tents they had outside.

They had bounce houses for the little ones and the occassional bag pipers and dancers performing.

For a few hours, the girls pretty much played with the kids while the boys downed Guiness after Guiness.

Alayna had her first taste of corned beef, cabbage, and red potatoes.

And now and then, we were visited by a piper or leprachaun.

-Brian and Kristina